Smart Lit Summary

“More Sinned against than Sinning”                                                                              by Umm-e-Ummara “More Sinned against than Sinning” is an Urdu short story translated into English by Vishwamitter Adhil and Alok Bhalla. The story is written in first person and narrated by Munni Bitiya (Bibi). The title is taken from William Shakespeare famous tragic play King Lear where the titular character makes this utterance. The phrase means that though someone may be guilty of wrongdoing, they think themselves as the victim of a more serious wrong. “More Sinned against than Sinning” talks about the violence and the destruction of Munni Bitiya’s family, because of her father’s decision of taking the family to Dhaka much agai...

"Homework" by Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg was a famous American writer, born in 1926. He was the founder of the Beat Generation. His poet usually discusses the problems in the society. The poem "Homework" begins with a homage to Kenneth Koch, another contemporary famous writer. This poem is about the cleansing of the world and to make the entire planet pollution- free. The poet uses 'washing' metaphor and puts forth his opinions about the cleansing of the world. The poet begins by washing the dirty Iran and the United States as there is always war between the two countries. He wants to soap and scrub Africa and restore the animals and bats back into the jungle. He wants to wash the Amazon river in South America and clean the oil spills from Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. These two places have several oil rigs; hence the pollution of water due to oil spills. He moves to the North Pole to rub the smog out of it. The poet focuses on the pollution...